Field Camp
[Click here to load panorama]Going to the right, from the archaeologists' tents, are the kitchen, the rangers' house, two storage buildings, the field laboratory, and the white building that houses the cooks. The big tree in the middle is visited every day by a number of rare tropical birds. The field camp is located on the edge of an aguada, a swamp-like lake from which we get all our water. The lake is only about 75 feet behind our tents. All day long we can see many animals along its
shore and rare birds flying over and settling upon the waters.

Operation 1
[Click here to load panorama]David Lee and Jennifer Piehl are examining a burial in front of Stela 10 and Stela 9. These stelae were standing in front of a three-story acropolis and palace complex that faces north and onto Plaza 2. You can also see workmen excavating
and moving debris. Piles of stone and screening dirt surround the
excavation area. 180° around, off in the near distance, are
Stelae 11 and 12, the subject of the next panorama.

Operation 2
[Click here to load panorama]Standing in Plaza 2, David Freidel, Héctor Escobedo, and Mary Jane Acuña discuss their strategies for excavating around Stelae 11 and 12. 180° around, we see two workmen excavating along the low platform wall at the rear of the Royal Couple Temple. The two stelae on this side of the building and the
three stelae on the front of the building (facing Plaza 1) tell the
story of the Lady of Calakmul and her husband, the king of Waka',
whom she came to marry and thereby form an alliance between the two
cities.